one young man in the years since Wes had died. Obviously she’d had an affair that went wrong and resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, but Celeste was getting far too old to judge someone for a mistake like that. Lately, she’d started thinking that judging anyone at all took far more energy than she was willing to expend. “I don’t know what’s going to happen between them, but I will not lose another family member because they see something in Sera Guidry that I don’t.”
Cal stared at her for a moment. “I almost believe you.”
“Do I hope this doesn’t go anywhere? Yes. I believe they are jumping into this relationship far too quickly, and I don’t want Harry to get attached to her child when we don’t even know who the father is or if he’s going to come into the picture at some point. But I’m not going to say a thing about it. It doesn’t work. Trying to control situations . . . All it’s done is cost me my children.”
Cal was quiet for a moment. “You haven’t lost me. Or Angie.”
“It felt like I had the other night.” Sitting and talking to her maid over some excellent roast and a bottle of wine had caused something to shift inside her. Annemarie reminded her of her mother. And her sister. They’d talked about Annemarie’s grandbabies.
Oh, she’d missed her sister in those moments. If her sister had lived, she would have moved her into Beaumont House along with Harry.
“Did you know when I first married your father, I asked him if your aunt could come and live in the guesthouse?”
Cal’s shoulders relaxed, but his eyes had widened in surprise. “Are you talking about your sister?”
“Yes, this was before Harry was born, but our parents had passed on and I helped her out because she was in college.” They’d lived in a tiny apartment and Janelle had gone to school while Celeste worked. “I couldn’t imagine her living alone, and let’s be honest, her degree was going to be social work, so she was going to starve. I thought she could transfer to a school close to here and live in the guesthouse and she could help with you.”
“But obviously she didn’t come here, and I don’t think she finished college, right?”
“She did not because your father thought if she couldn’t afford it herself, she shouldn’t have an education. He told me I could give her everything I had in my account, but after we were married, she was on her own.” She could still remember how trapped she’d felt. It had been that moment that she’d realized her happily ever after wasn’t going to be as promised.
“That sounds like dear old dad.”
“I had to choose between being a single mother and taking care of my sister, and I couldn’t do it.” Her heart still ached with that choice. “My sister didn’t even blink. She told me to follow my heart and not to worry about her.”
“Mom, he was wrong to force you to choose.”
“But the choice was mine.” She reached for a tissue. The tears that always seemed close now were an annoying side effect of all this self-reflection. “I didn’t follow my heart. I followed my fear. I don’t want to do that again. For four years Seraphina has been a face for all my troubles, and the idea that Harry could fall into the same trap as Wes frightens me.”
“I don’t think she was trying to set a trap. I know you think she’s some kind of gold digger.”
Celeste waved that off. “I don’t anymore. A gold digger tends to know how to dress and present herself. And I offered up you. You’re a much better catch since Harry doesn’t actually have any money of his own, and he has terrible taste in everything from cars to that beer he drinks.”
Cal’s face lit up and he looked younger. This wasn’t his usual arrogant smirk. It was a beaming smile. “You offered me up?”
It was good to know she could surprise him from time to time. “Absolutely, my darling boy. She turned you down flat and then drank some coffee from a fast-food place. And if that motel I found them in is any indication of her standards, well, I don’t have to worry about her looting the family coffers. Though I will have to direct her in how to dress for the wedding events.”
“You’re really letting Harry bring her? This isn’t some wild plan to humiliate her